BloombergBusinessweek August 10, 2020
GroupswithnamessuchasUnited 349 andSolid 349
actuallywerechargingfees,withsomeaskingasmuchas
1,000pesosfor“membership.”MarilySoandherhusband
signedupwitha preacher,“Brother”BambiSantos,whosaid
GodhadcalledhimtofightPepsi.Theyagreedtopayhim
30%ofanyfuturesettlementsandjoinedhisralliesandpro-
tests.Intheprovinces,farmerswerereportedtobeselling
theircattletoaffordthejourneytoManila.
Andthechaoscontinued.ProtestersinQuezonCityburned
tires.Speculatorsofferedwadsofcashfor349sinhopesofa
biggerpayofflater.Evenpoliceweren’timmunetothefrenzy.
OneNationalBureauofInvestigation(NBI)
officerarrivedattheQuezonCityplantwith
anemptyattachécasetocarryhomehis
millionpesos.“Pepsieitherpays,”hetolda
reporter,“ortheyclosedown.”
As days turned into weeks and then
months,some10,000claimantsfiledsuits
demandingmoney.Molotovcocktailscrashed
intoPepsifactoriesanddozensofdelivery
trucks,theirdriversdousingtheflameswith
7 Up.ThePepsi-ColaHotshotsbasketball
teamchangeditsnametothe7-UpUncolas.
Executivesbegantravelingwithbodyguards,
andthecompanymovedAmericanemployees
outofthecountry,saveforonewho’dworked
inBeirut.“Wewereeatingdeaththreatsfor
breakfast,”Vera,themarketingdirector,later
tolda reporter.Ata riotinManila,a 64-year-
oldprotesternamedPacienciaSalem,whose
husbandhaddiedofheartfailureduringa
march,tolda journalist,“Evenif I diehere,
myghostwillcometofightPepsi.”
WHY HAD THE CONTEST SPARKED SUCH
anger?Itwasthemoney,ofcourse,butit
wasn’tonlythat.Thescandaltappedintoris-
inganticolonialsentimentinthePhilippines,
whichwasthenflaringovertheAmerican
militarypresence.Followingfraught,failed
negotiations,theU.S.waswithdrawingfrom
thelastofitssixbases.Theclosureswere
a victoryfornationalists,buttheycameat
thecostofhundredsofmillionsofdollarsin
yearlyaidandtensofthousandsofjobs.
NumberFeveralsobecamelinkedinthe
publicimaginationwiththecountry’schaotic
nationalelections,whichhadtakenplacea
fewweeksearlierbutwerestillunresolved
thankstocountingdelaysandproceduraland
legalchallenges.Thepresidentialcontest,in
particular,hadhadcolonialovertones,pit-
tingFidelRamos,a cigar-chomping,right-
leaningWestPointgraduatewithPentagon
connections, against Miriam Defensor
Santiago, a U.S.-educated lawyer who’d worked overseas for
the United Nations, and Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., chairman
of San Miguel Corp., a Coca-Cola partner. Other candidates
included Imelda Marcos, widow of Ferdinand. “One must won-
der how many voters were drawn from the voting booth to
Pepsi protests,” a columnist wrote. In the end, Ramos nar-
rowly defeated Santiago, a result marred by evidence of fraud.
In January 1993, Pepsi had to pay a fine of 150,000 pesos to
the Department of Trade and Industry, for deviating from the
promotional campaign the government had approved. “We
have done everything that we think is reasonable to amicably“My wife wouldn’t have died!”
Rosa Rio sayshe told
PePsi RePR esentativesin
- “it’s because of
the 349 incident!”
RAUL ROSARIO’S WIFE, ANICETA, WAS KILLED WHEN
A PEPSI TRUCK WAS BOMBED